CLEVELAND, Miss. - When the curtain opens on the 2015 season Thursday, Sept. 3 at Parker Field-McCool Stadium, the Delta State University football team will begin the campaign ranked No. 14 in the nation in theannual American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II Preseason Top 25 Poll. Coach Todd Cooley and the Statesmen will host Fort Valley State in the season-opener. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. DSU defeated the Wildcats 56-13 in last year's opener in Fort Valley, Georgia. 

Delta State is one of four Gulf South Conference teams featured in the AFCA's Top 20. The University of West Georgia is ranked No. 4 with the University of North Alabama No. 15 and Valdosta State University coming in at No. 16.

The Statesmen will also square-off against No. 22 Texas A&M-Commerce University on Sept. 12 in Commerce, Texas. 

Albany State University was also listed among the teams receiving votes. The Golden Rams travel to Cleveland for a Saturday, Sept. 26 contest at Parker Field-McCool Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. 

The complete poll is listed below.  
 

Rank	School (1st votes)	Rec.	Pts.	Rank*	Season Opener	Head Coach
1.	Minnesota St.-Mankato (9)	14-1	751	2	Sept. 3 vs. No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth	Todd Hoffner
2.	Colorado St.-Pueblo (16)	14-1	747	1	Sept. 5 vs. Central Washington	John Wristen
3.	Minnesota-Duluth (3)	13-1	648	3	Sept. 3 at No. 1 Minnesota St.-Mankato	Curt Wiese
4.	West Georgia (3)	12-3	632	6	Sept. 5 at Catawba (N.C.)	Will Hall
5.	Northwest Missouri St. (1)	10-2	623	14	Sept. 3 at Nebraska-Kearney	Adam Dorrel
6.	Ferris St. (Mich.)	11-1	601	11	Sept. 12 vs. Northwood (Mich.)	Tony Annese
7.	Pittsburg St. (Kan.)	11-2	557	7	Sept. 3 at Northeastern St. (Okla.)	Tim Beck
8.	Ohio Dominican	11-2	526	4	Sept. 3 at Malone (Ohio)	Bill Conley
9.	Concord (W.Va.)	13-1	477	5	Sept. 5 at West Liberty (W.Va.)	Garin Justice
10.	Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)	11-1	431	8	Sept. 3 at No. 23 West Chester (Pa.)	Ian Shields
11.	Bloomsburg (Pa.)	11-2	422	12	Sept. 5 vs. Stonehill (Mass.)	Paul Darragh
12.	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	10-1	381	9	Sept. 3 at East Central (Okla.)	Todd Knight
13.	Angelo St. (Texas)	9-3	376	20	Sept. 3 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle St.	Will Wagner
14.	Delta St. (Miss.)	9-2	369	13	Sept. 3 vs. Fort Valley St. (Ga.)	Todd Cooley
15.	North Alabama	9-2	358	16	Sept. 6 vs. Miles (Ala.)	Bobby Wallace
16.	Valdosta St. (Ga.)	10-3	286	10	Sept. 5 at Albany St. (Ga.)	David Dean
17.	Sioux Falls (S.D.)	11-1	277	18	Sept. 5 vs. Mary (N.D.)	Jed Stugart
18.	Colorado School of Mines	10-2	189	19	Sept. 5 vs. South Dakota School of Mines	Gregg Brandon
19.	Azusa Pacific (Calif.)	10-1	175	23	Sept. 3 at West Texas A&M	Victor Santa Cruz
20.	Winston-Salem St. (N.C.)	9-2	142	24	Sept. 3 at North Carolina-Pembroke	Kienus Boulware
21.	Harding (Ark.)	9-2	129	17	Sept. 5 at Oklahoma Baptist	Ronnie Huckeba
22.	Texas A&M-Commerce	9-3	127	NR	Sept. 3 vs. Adams St. (Colo.)	Colby Carthel
23.	West Chester (Pa.)	11-2	125	15	Sept. 3 vs. No. 10 Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)	Bill Zwaan
24.	Grand Valley St. (Mich.)	6-5	119	NR	Sept. 3 vs. Southwest Baptist (Mo.)	Matt Mitchell
25.	Slippery Rock (Pa.)	9-3	111	NR	Sept. 5 at New Haven (Conn.)	Dr. George Mihalik

Others Receiving Votes: Indianapolis (Ind.), 109; Tuskegee (Ala.), 101; Michigan Tech, 64; Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 63; Ashland (Ohio), 56; Gannon (Pa.), 46; Shepherd (W.Va.), 46; West Texas A&M, 44; Virginia St., 41; Midwestern St. (Texas), 39; Albany St. (Ga.), 37; Central Missouri, 37; Henderson St. (Ark.), 28; American International (Mass.), 24; North Carolina-Pembroke, 12; Wayne St. (Mich.), 12; Central Washington, 11; Tarleton St. (Texas), 11; California (Pa.), 7; Charleston (W.Va.), 6; Truman St. (Mo.), 6; Central Oklahoma, 5; St. Cloud State (Minn.), 4; Humboldt t. (Calif.), 3; LIU-Post (N.Y.), 3; East Central (Okla.), 2; Newberry (S.C.), 2; Fayetteville St. (N.C.), 1; Southeastern Oklahoma St., 1.